Friday, March 31, 2006

The Problem With Unions, In a Nutshell

PHILADELPHIA - This city's hoped-for bragging rights as home of America'stallest environmentally friendly building could go down the toilet.

In a city where organized labor is a force to be reckoned with, theplumbers union has been raising a stink about a developer's plans to install 116waterless, no-flush urinals in what will be Philadelphia's biggestskyscraper.

Developer Liberty Property Trust says the urinals would save 1.6million gallons of water a year at the 57-story Comcast Center, expected to opennext year.

But the union put out the word it doesn't like the idea of waterlessurinals — fewer pipes mean less work.

There you go. Property rights, freedom of contract, and common sense must be cast aside to accommodate a bunch of whiny, overpaid, officious assholes. These jerks are subverting the market process (for labor and materials) as if they have some right to work at the expense of the property owner. That's criminal. And the city's licensing department can actually reward this childish, anti-market behavior by refusing to approve waterless urinals.

Do you think these guys might have a problem with the Water Dept. dictating to them what kind of fixtures they can install in their homes? "Sorry sir, but your low-flow toilet deprives us of increased usage and revenue. You'll have to install something more costly." That would piss off just about anyone, wouldn't it? So why do these union goons think it's OK to pull the same stunt?